Incinerator



Nov. 28, 1967 R. E. CLEMENT ET AL 3,354,847

INGINERATOR Filed Aug. 1, 1966 2 Sheets-Sheet 1 5% aemew' Tuzew United States Patent M 3,354,847 INCINERATOR Roland E. Clement, Menasha, Wis., and Edward T. Knox, 1906 Memorial Drive, Appleton, Wis. 54911; said Clement assignor to said Knox Filed Aug. 1, 1966, Ser. No. 569,188 11 Claims. (Cl. 1107) ABSTRACT OF THE DISCLOSURE The present invention relates generally to improvements in devices for burning refuse, and relates more particularly to the provision of an improved incinerator embodying novel means for supporting combustion, minimizing fly ash, facilitating cleaning, and confining heat.

Background of the invention With todays ever-increasing population and expanding industrial growth, there is a similarly increasing need for more eflicient rubbish and refuse disposal in towns and cities. While various and sundry incinerator constructions have heretofore been proposed for the mass disposal of combustible refuse, none of these rior disposal plans have proven entirely satisfactory for one reason or another.

In most instances, expensive and cumbersome cast iron grates are provided in the fire bed of the combustion chamber, and there is an exceedingly diflicult cleaning problem present which is time consuming and costly due to the fact that the grates require hand cleaning and prevent rapid cleaning by machine or the like. The cleaning problem is further complicated by the lack of proper control over the air supply means for supporting combustion so that substantial amounts of unconsumed debris remain in the combustion chamber which requires considerable manual clean up labor and cartage.

Prior disposal plants also lack an adequate means to remove fly ash and other solid particles from the smoke or gaseous discharge of the incinerator. This results in these particles being scattered over the property surrounding the incinerator, causing objection to its use by the residents of such property.

In addition, such problems as proper cooling of the walls and stacks of the incinerator and other problems have not been overcome in previous refuse disposal plants.

Summary of the invention It is, therefore, a primary object of this invention to provide an improved incinerator which is highly efiicient in operation, yet exceedingly economical in both original cost and maintenance, and which moreover obviates the above mentioned objections and disadvantages of prior devices.

Another important object of the invention is to provide an improved incinerator wherein combustion is effectively augmented by a closely controllable supply of air conveyed to the combustion chamber to eliminate the need for grates or the like to support the refuse being burned, to assure proper combustion of the refuse, and to prevent excessive generation of fly ash.

Another object of the invention is to provide an improved incinerator having a combustion chamber floor construction which facilitates cleaning of the floor either by machine or by hand.

Yet another object of the present invention is to provide an improved incinerator having improved means for removing fly ash and other solid particles from the gaseous smoke discharge thereof.

3,354,847 Patented Nov. 28, 1 967 A further object of the present invention is to provide an improved incinerator having an upwardly converging chimney of rigid construction which is cooled by the passage of air over both sides thereof.

An additional object of the invention is to provide an improved incinerator of extremely simple construction which is highly eflicient in operation and which may be constructed at low cost for use by small as well as large communities.

The drawings These and other objects and advantages of the invention will become apparent as the description thereof proceeds, reference being had to the following drawings forming a part thereof.

FIGURE 1 is a longitudinal vertical section through a typical incinerator constructed in accordance with, and embodying the features of, the invention;

FIGURE 2 is an enlarged fragmentary transverse horizontal section taken through the vertical wall of the combustion chamber of the incinerator of the present invention and showing in detail the corner construction of the Wall;

FIGURE 3 is an enlarged fragmentary perspective view in section showing one of the floor nozzles utilized in the incinerator of the present invention;

FIGURE 4 is an enlarged fragmentary vertical section through a portion of the chimney;

FIGURE 5 is a similarly enlarged fragmentary crosssectional view taken along the line 5-5 of FIGURE 4 and showing in further detail the chimney of the incinerator; and

FIGURE 6 is a partial front view of the incinerator showing the fly ash removal system.

Detailed description Referring now to the drawings, the incinerator shown therein as embodying the features of the present invention comprises, in general, an upwardly open combustion chamber 7 defined by substantially vertical side walls 8 constructed of suitable refractory material such as firebrick, in a manner hereinafter described, and a combustion chamber floor 10 which is also preferably covered with a refractory material. The upwardly open combustion chamber thus formed is provided with an upper side wall inlet opening 12 and an upwardly converging chimney 14 spanning the chamber 7. The floor 10 of the com-bustion chamber is inclined downwardly away from the in let side of the chamber to facilitate the collection of the incinerator residue at the lower portion of the floor and to permit removal of the residue through a clean out opening 18, access to which may be had through access door 20 slidable in vertical ways 22. A flight chain conveyor 24 may be provided adjacent access opening 18 to remove the residue from the floor 10, and the residue may be shoveled by hand, or mechanically, onto the conveyor through an opening at the lower end of the floor which is normally closed by removable covers 25. The conveyor 24 may extend a sufficient distance from the incinerator to unload the same on a truck to be carted away and disposed of.

The inlet opening 12 to combustion chamber 7 is normally closed by a pivotably mounted hopper 26 positioned laterally of the opening, the hopper being operable to dump its load into chamber 7 only under the control of an operator. As shown, the hopper 26 is of L-shape in vertical section with its base leg 28 carrying a plate 30 for supporting the leg 28 intermediate its end on pivot 32 so that the hopper is in a normal state of unbalance with leg 34 inclined upwardly and outwardly and with the free end of its leg 28 inclined upwardly and inwardly to thereby span the inlet opening 12. The free end of the leg 28 is furthermore additionally provided with a depending closure shield 36 lined with a suitable refractory material and secured to the leg 28 in a manner whereby the closure 36 swings with the hopper from a position such as shown in full lines in FIGURE I normally closing the inlet opening 12 to a position free of the inlet opening as shown in phantom in FIGURE 1 whenever the hopper is actuated to dump its load. An additional depending shield 38 swingably mounted on the lower edge of chimney 14 cooperates to also normally close the inlet opening 12 and protect personnel and equipment from the heat being generated within the incinerator. A suitable means such as motor and transmission unit 40 connected to hopper 26 by a cable 42 or, as an alternative, by a hydraulic ram may be provided for selectively swinging hopper 26 about the pivot 32 under the control of an loperator to thereby dump its load into combustion cham- The combustion chamber may be conveniently located within a pit with the hopper 26 being recessed within a lateral well 44 to permit garbage trucks and dump trucks 45 or the like to be driven to a point directly over the hopper for unloading refuse and rubbish to be burned.

The combustion chamber 7 is formed with outer walls 58 lining the pit in which the incinerator is built. The inner walls 8 are spaced from the outer walls 58 so as to provide an air passage 59 between the outer walls and the inner walls. The air passage 59 is closed about the upper end thereof by refractory member 9, and communicates with the combustion chamber 7 via nozzles 60 which circumvent the wall at spaced levels and are angularly inclined with respect to both the vertical and horizontal planes. Nozzles 60 are inclined downwardly, as shown in FIGURE 1, to cause the air emitted therefrom to form a down draft to reduce the amount of fly ash carried up the chimney, and they are also inclined laterally, as shown in FIGURE 2, to thus form an air cyclone and cause the air emitted from the nozzles to circulate in a spiral or helical path within combustion chamber 7 to aid in the burning of the refuse and in the elimination of fly ash.

As shown in FIGURE 2, the inner walls 8 are constructed so as to seal the air passage along each wall from the air passage of the adjacent wall, thus forming a separate air passage 59 along each of the vertical walls of the combustion chamber 7 to thereby permit the air flow through nozzles 60 of each air passage 59 to be separately and closely controlled. This construction is considerably different from that employed in prior incinerators wherein a single interconnected and continuous, common chamber was generally provided around all of the walls. The advantages of the present construction will become apparent from the subsequent description of the operation of the incinerator of the present invention.

Specifically, one of the inner walls, identified by the numeral 81 in FIGURE 2, is formed so that the end thereof extends beyond the adjacent inner wall 82 and directly abuts outer wall 58. A flexible seal 62 is provided at its juncture with wall 58 to allow for the expansion of the firebrick forming the inner wall 81 when the incinerator is operated. A similar construction may be used on the other end of each wall so that a separate integral air passage 59 is formed between the outer wall 58 and each of the inner walls. Likewise, the wall identified by the numeral 82 in FIGURE 2 is provided with a flexible seal 85 interposed between the end thereof and the adjacent surface of the wall 81 to thereby form an expansion joint. With each corner constructed in like manner, the air supply to each chamber 59 between each of the respective inner and outer walls may be separately controlled to more efficiently control the burning of refuse within different localities within the combustion chamher.

The floor of combustion chamber 7 is formed of a concrete base 66 having a facing of firebrick 68. Air is injected into the combustion chamber 7 from the floor through nozzles 70 connected at spaced intervals to pipes 72 embedded in the concrete 66, as shown in FIGURE 1 and in detail in FIGURE 3. Specifically, the nozzles 70 each include a vertical outlet pipe 74 extending through the concrete base 66 and firebrick 68 toward the combustion chamber 7. Each outlet pipe 74 is capped by a plate 76 shaped to fit a similarly shaped recess or depression in firebrick 68, so as to lie flush with the upper surface thereof. Plate 76 has a downwardly extending collar 78 which is slideably received within the vertical outlet pipe 74 for ready removal. Each plate 76, in turn, contains a plurality of holes drilled therethrough at diverging angles to the axis of the plate.

The air passages 59 and pipes 72 are supplied with air by a pair of blowers, one of which is shown and identi fied by the numeral 88, communicating therewith through delivery pipes 89 and 91. Control means, such as dampers 91' in the delivery pipes 89 and 91, regulate the air supply, and the blowers are preferably housed in outside blower houses at opposite ends of the incinerator, one of the blowers feeding the floor pipes 89 and the other feeding the wall pipes 91. I

Chimney 14 is supported by a pair of A frames one of which is identified by the numeral 46 in FIGURE 1. The chimney itself is formed of a plurality of overlapping, corrugated metal plates 48, fastened together in a manner hereinafter described in detail. The plates may be covered with a refractory lining if desired. The A frame 46 also supports and positions structural members 50 and 52 which, in turn, support a fly ash removal means 54, and a member 56 for mounting the motor and transmission unit 40.

Plates 48 are mounted in shingled fashion along the A frame 46 to direct the discharge from the combustion chamber 7 into a plenum chamber 90 mounted at the top of the A frame 46. A plurality of horizontal H-beams 92 are strung along the runs of the A frame 46 with the webs of the beams extending perpendicular to the respective run. The upper edge of each plate 48 is bolted to the inner flange of the respective H-beam 92 with a spacer 94 being provided between the plate and the flange of the beam to allow air to pass over the plate and between the plate and the beam. The lower edge of each plate 48 is, in turn, bolted to the outer flange of the adjacent H-beam 92 without a spacer. However, air may still pass between the plates 48 and the flange of the respective H- beams 92 along the corrugations of plates 48 as shown in FIGURE 5. If desired, a box beam 96 may be used in place of I-I-beams 92, as shown in FIGURE 4. The vertical sides of the A frames 46 may be shingled with cotrugated plates 48 in the same manner as the inclined sur faces of the frames. 7

Plenum chamber'90 may be formed of flat plates 100 fastened to the inside of the runs of the A frame 46 at the apex thereof. The chamber 90 opens into duct 102 which connects the chamber 90 to fly ash removal means 54. Fly ash removal means 54 includes a fly ash separator 106 which may be of the mechanical cyclone type, or may be of the electric type such as a Cottrell smoke precipitator. Fly ash separator 106 includes a collection bin 108 on the lower portion thereof, and a blower 110 mounted on collection bin 108 connects the collection bin to pipe 114, which extends into combustion chamber 7. A mechanical draft inducer, such as blower 104, is connected to fly ash separator 106 and to stack 112.

In use, the incinerator may be conveniently loaded by trucks 46 manipulated so as to dump their loads into hopper 28 which, when loaded, may be swung by means of the motor unit 40 about pivot 32 to dump the load into the combustion chamber 7. The rubbish is then ignited and blowers 88 turned on to provide an air supply in delivery pipes 89 and 91. This air is, in turn, supplied to pipes 72 for injection through floor nozzles 70 into combustion chamber 7 and to air passages 59 along the walls 8 of combustion chamber 7 for injection through nozzles 60. The air from floor nozzles 70, in effect, supports the rubbish on the floor of combustion chamber 7 as well as stimulating combustion of the refuse, thereby eliminating the need for grates or the like to support the refuse. The air from wall nozzle 60', as previously noted, circulates in a helical downwardly directed path to insure complete burning of the rubbish and provides a down draft to minimize the amount of fly ash carried up the chimney.

Because the air passage 59 along each vertical wall 8 is separate from and independent of the air passage along the other vertical walls, the amount of air issuing from the nozzles 60 connected to any one of the air passages may be increased or decreased without affecting the air issuing from the nozzles connected to air passages along the other walls. For example, if unburned or slowly burning refuse is piled up along one wall of the incinerator, the burning rate along that wall may be increased by increasing the air supply to the air passage 59 of that wall so as to reduce, by burning, the amount of piled up refuse and restore a uniform refuse level to the entire incinerator, thereby insuring extremely eflicient operation of the incinerator. Such an increase in the air supply to only one of the walls of the incinerator was heretofore not possible in incinerator constructions having one continuous, common air passage around all the walls of the combustion chamber.

The air injected into combustion chamber 7 through wall nozzles 60 and floor nozzles 70, after undergoing combustion, rises into chimney 14 along with the heated gases, smoke, and ash or solid particles from the rubbish. This rising air induces a draft which causes an air flow through the spaces created by spacers 94 and the corrugations of plates 48 and between the plates and beams 92 to minimize possible deterioration or damage to the plates by cooling both sides of the plates at all times. Also, the air so passing into the chimney dilutes the hot gases contained therein and reduces their temperature. This further reduces the possibility of damage to plates 48, beams 92, and A frames 46.

After passage through chimney 14, the smoke and fly ash resulting from the combustion of the rubbish in combustion chamber 7 circulate through plenum chamber 90 at the top of the chimney. Mechanical draft inducer 104 draws the smoke and fly ash through duct 102 and into fly ash separator 106. Fly ash separator 106 removes the fiy ash entrained in the discharge from the incinerator and deposits the fly ash in collection bin 108 on the lower portion of the fly ash separator 106. Blower 110 injects the removed fly ash into the combustion area of combustion chamber 7 by means of pipe 114 for further reduction and elimination. The mechanical draft inducer 104 drives the remainder of the gaseous discharge from combustion chamber 7 up stack 112.

At the end of the refuse burning operation, both the floor and wall air blowers are left on low speed, and these blowers are preferably provided with a timing device located on the control panel in the control house. The timing device can be set at any hour up to 12 hours and kept set to shut oif automatically at the desired time. Th1s enables the operator to set the timer and leave the premises. The remaining fire in the incinerator 7 will, of course, burn out, and the blowers then become a cooling device to bring the furnace down in temperature to enable the clean out men to perform their work before a new burning operation. The door 20 is of a guillotine type movable in the ways 22, and this door may be opened to remove the residue. It will be noted that the plates 74 of the floor nozzle 70 lie flush with the surface of the firebrick 68, thereby preventing any interference with mechanical removal operations. The clean out may be facilitated by using a front end loader which may be moved into and out of the incinerator through the guillotine door opening 18. The burned residue may, in turn, be conveyed away from the incinerator to a waiting truck by means of the conveyor 24. Both the floor air fan and the wall air fan may be provided with a damper on the intake side, and these dampers are regulated by the operator at the control panel in the control house with the aid of a rheostat. Thus, an operator may remotely control a lesser or greater amount of air as required to both the floor and the wall in order to maintain the proper temperature in the com bustion chamber. The induced draft fan 104 also is dampered on the intake side and is regulated by a rheostat on the control panel. In addition, an alarm system may be provided on the control panel for Warning the operator whenever temperatures in excess of a predetermined amount are reached in both the combustion chamber and in the plenum chamber.

Various modes of carrying out the invention are contemplated as being within the scope of the following claims particularly pointing out and distinctly claiming the subject matter which is regarded as the invention.

We claim:

1. An incinerator comprising, an upwardly open combustion chamber defined by a plurality of walls, an upwardly converging chimney spanning said combustion chamber, means lining the walls of said combustion chamber to form a separate air chamber along each wall of said combustion chamber, each of said air chambers communicating with said combustion chamber through a plurality of ports, and means for supplying air independently to each of said air chambers and through the ports to said combustion chamber to stimulate combustion therein.

2. An incinerator according to claim 1, wherein the means interiorly lining certain of the walls of said combustion chamber abut the adjacent walls and the means interiorly lining said adjacent walls abut said means interiorly lining said certain walls to thereby form the separate air chambers along each of said walls.

3. An incinerator according to claim 1, wherein the ports communicating said air chambers with said combustion chamber form nozzles directed downwardly into said combustion chamber to minimize the amount of fly ash discharged from said combustion chamber.

4. An incinerator according to claim 3, wherein said downwardly directed nozzles are also directed tangentially into the combustion chamber to move the air in a downwardly inclined helical path.

5. An incinerator according to claim 1, wherein the floor of said combustion chamber contains a plurality of air conduits terminating in upwardly directed nozzles terminating approximately flush with the inner surface of said floor to thereby form a floor for said combustion chamber devoid of obstructions.

6. An incinerator according to claim 5, wherein said floor nozzles each comprise a flat plate recessed in the floor of said incinerator, each of said plates having apertures extending therethrough at diverging angles to the axis of said plate.

7. An incinerator according to claim 6, wherein each of the apertured plates has a downwardly extending collar removably received in one of the air conduits.

8. An incinerator according to claim 1, wherein said chimney is formed of a series of partially overlapping plates, the adjacent overlapping portions of said plates being spaced from one another to provide upwardly directed air passages over both sides of said plates.

9. An incinerator according to claim 1, wherein said chimney terminates in a plenum chamber connected to a fly ash removal means for removing fly ash from the gaseous discharge of the combustion chamber.

10. An incinerator according to claim 9, wherein said fly ash removal means includes a draft inducer to draw the gaseous discharge from the combustion chamber through the fly ash removal means.

11. An incinerator according to claim 9, wherein the fly ash removal means includes means for returning fly ash to said combustion chamber for further reduction and elimination.

(References on following page) 7 '8 References Cited 2,608,169 8/1952 Sparks et a1. 110182.5 2,752,869 7/ 1956 Keenan 1107 UNITED STATES PATENTS 1,171,005 2/1916 Stoddard 11018 1,924,878 9 P y 5 JAMES w, WESTII-IAVER, Primary Examiner.

3,225,721 12/1965 Rowley 110 7 

1. AN INCINERATOR COMPRISING, AN UPWARDLY OPEN COMBUSTION CHAMBER DEFINED BY A PLURALITY OF WALLS, AN UPWARDLY CONVERGING CHIMNEY SPANNING SAID COMBUSTION CHAMBER, MEANS LINING THE WALLS OF SAID COMBUSTION CHAMBER TO FORM A SEPARATE AIR CHAMBER ALONG EACH WALL OF SAID COMBUSTION CHAMBER, EACH OF SAID AIR CHAMBERS COMMUNICATING WITH SAID COMBUSTION CHAMBER THROUGH A PLURALITY OF PORTS, AND MEANS FOR SUPPLYING AIR INDEPENDENTLY 